Ukraine-Russia war - live: Kyiv inflicting ‘hell’ on Russian lines as counter-offensive escalates

Heavy weapons supplied by the west in the fierce battle raging outside Bakhmut are inflicting “hell” on Russian enemy lines, Ukraine has claimed.

The claims come amid reports Kyiv’s army has broken through Russian lines in the Zaporizhzhia region, according to the general leading the southern counteroffensive.

On Saturday, Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov rubbished Ukraine’s 10 point peace plan and said the conflict would be resolved on the battlefield if the west stuck with it.

He also dismissed the west as an “empire of lies” and said the latest U.N. proposals to revive the Black Sea grain initiative would not fly because they do not deliver on promises he says were made to Moscow.

Lavrov spoke after a week of intense global diplomacy at the annual gathering of world leaders at U.N. headquarters in New York where Ukraine and its Western allies sought to drum up support for Kyiv as it fights against Russia’s invasion.

Key Points

• Kyiv inflicting ‘hell’ on Russian lines as counter-offensive escalates

• Ukrainian missile strikes Sevastopol

• US ‘to give Kyiv ATACMS long-range missiles’

• Ukrainian counteroffensive pushes through Putin’s final line of defence

• Zelensky warns energy terror has begun

• Putin’s spies ‘hacking Ukrainian files for Russian war crimes evidence’

Inside Putin’s attempts to indoctrinate Russia’s youth by encouraging ‘self-sacrifice’

15:33 , Eleanor Noyce

Russian textbooks praising Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine are an attempt to encourage “self-sacrifice” among schoolchildren, experts have warned.

In September, Russia rolled out new history textbooks to schools that claim Ukraine is an “ultranationalist state” being used as a “battering ram” by the United States to “destroy Russia”.

One chapter claims that Ukrainian membership of Nato could have led to a catastrophic war and “possibly the end of civilisation”, an outcome it says Russia had to prevent.

Alexander Butler reports:

Inside Putin’s attempts to indoctrinate Russian youth by encouraging ‘self-sacrifice’

Russian airstrike on Kherson kills two

14:25 , Barney Davis

Russian airstrikes on Sunday killed two people and wounded three others in southern Ukraine’s Kherson province, the region’s governor reported Sunday as the war in Ukraine entered a 20th month.

According to Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin, Russian forces struck the city of Beryslav, destroying an unspecified number of private houses. A woman was killed and three people were wounded, including a police officer, he said.

Another airstrike also killed a 67-year-old man in the village of Lvove, Prokudin said without specifying the type of weapons used in the attack.

The communities hit both are located in the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Kherson region, where the Dnieper River that bisects the province has marked a battle line since Russian troops withdrew across it in November 2022, a retreat that boosted the invaded country’s morale.

Kindergarten struck in another wave of Russian missiles on Nikopol and Sumy

14:01 , Barney Davis

Ukrainians were injured by shrapnel after Russia initiated a fresh wave of artillery assaults on the Nikopol region.

The city of Nikopol itself suffered severe damage to a department store building and a kindergarten, according to local reports.

These attacks resulted in the injury of a 25-year-old man who has since been hospitalised with shrapnel wounds and is currently fighting for his life according to Serhii Lysak, the head of the military administration in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Despite more strikes across the neighbouring regions, the Sumy regional military administration did not receive any reports of injuries.

Heartbreaking images of a Ukrainian train taking soldiers away from family to the frontline

13:00 , Barney Davis

Associated Press has been recording the heartbreaking separations of soldiers and their families as they board the same train line to take them to the frontline.

Every day, around seven in the morning, passengers on the Kyiv-Kramatorsk route leave the relative safety of the capital and head east to frontline areas where battles between Ukrainian forces and Russian troops rage and Russian strikes are frequent with imprecise missiles that slam into residential areas.

The passengers are a mix of men and women that offer up a slice of Ukrainian society these days. They include soldiers returning to the front after a brief leave, women making the trip to reunite for a few days with husbands and boyfriends serving on the battlefields, and residents returning to check on homes in the Donetsk region.

The connection was suspended for six months early in the war. The halt in April last year followed a Russian missile strike on the Kramatorsk railway station while passengers were waiting for evacuation. The strike killed 53 people and wounded 135 others in one of the deadliest Russian attacks.

Local media reports another air strike on the Russian city of Kursk

12:06 , Barney Davis

Ukrainian media is claiming another strike on the Russian city of Kursk hours after a drone strike hit an administrative building.

Black smoke can be seen pouring out of a large warehouse-type building in the bordering region.

There is currently no clear information on the scale of destruction or casualties with the attack coming on Kursk City Day.

The fresh strike came after Ukraine fired at least 19 “lethal” drones over the Black Sea and the Crimean peninsula, and three more over other regions of Russia, on Thursday.

The Russian anti-aircraft units intercepted and destroyed over a dozen drones in the region, the ministry said on its Telegram channel.

“In the night an attempt by the Kyiv regime to commit a terrorist attack with lethal drones on sites in the Russian Federation was intercepted,” the ministry said.

Russia imposes overnight curfew on Ukrainians living in Donetsk

11:30 , Barney Davis

The Russian-installed head of the Russian-annexed Ukrainian region of Donetsk has imposed an overnight curfew, according to a decree published on Sunday.

Denis Pushilin banned the presence of civilians on streets and public places from 11 p.m. until 4 a.m. on Mondays-Fridays, according to the decree.

The decree forbade assemblies, rallies and demonstrations as well as other mass events in Russia-controlled parts of Donetsk region unless they were permitted by Operational Headquarters for Military Threat Response in Donetsk People’s Republic.

Ukraine’s ministry of defence post heartwarming footage of bomb victim learning to ride bike again

10:50 , Barney Davis

A Ukrainian girl who lost her leg in a Russian bombing raid has taken her first steps to recovery in heartwarming footage.

Maryna, 6, was filmed learning to ride a bike again by doctors helping her rehabilitation after she lost her leg in a missile strike in Kherson in May last year.

According to local reports, after suffering from severe trauma she initially refused to use the prosthetic left leg, but was talked around by doctors and even named it Kesha.

Zelensky reveals he met top US businessmen to help rebuild Ukraine after Russian war

09:45 , Barney Davis

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday he met leading American businessmen and financiers during a visit to the United States, where investment opportunities in Ukraine were discussed.

Zelenskiy said the businessmen, who included Michael Bloomberg, Larry Fink and Bill Ackman, were prepared to make major investments in rebuilding Ukraine after its war with Russia.

“The American entrepreneurs and financiers confirmed their readiness to make large-scale investments in our country immediately after the end of the war and the receipt of security guarantees,” he posted on Telegram, along with photos of the meeting.

Zelensky warned ‘not to insult Poland again' over UN speech

09:13 , Barney Davis

Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned Volodymyr Zelensky to never “insult Poles again” after the Ukrainian leader suggested his country was playing political theatre over a long-standing frain dispute.

The Polish leader flashed a warning at Zelensky after the Ukrainian President offered a veiled criticism of Poland at the United Nations saying the dispute was “political theatre” and that “some of our friends in Europe” have “made a thriller from the grain.”

Poland decided last week to extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports, shaking Kyiv’s relationship with a neighbour that has been one of its staunchest allies since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.

At a rally Morawiecki hit back: “I want to tell President Zelensky never to insult Poles again, as he did recently during his speech at the UN.

“The Polish people will never allow this to happen, and defending the good name of Poland is not only my duty and honor, but also the most important task of the Polish government” he added.

Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

07:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine has been raging for one year now as the conflict continues to record devastating casualties and force the mass displacement of millions of blameless Ukrainians.

Vladimir Putin began the war by claiming Russia’s neighbour needed to be “demilitarised and de-Nazified”, a baseless pretext on which to launch a landgrab against an independent state that happens to have a Jewish president in Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ukraine has fought back courageously against Mr Putin’s warped bid to restore territory lost to Moscow with the collapse of the Soviet Union and has continued to defy the odds by defending itself against Russian onslaughts with the help of Western military aid.

Read more:

Here’s why Putin really invaded Ukraine

What are Abrams tanks and why is the US sending them to Ukraine?

06:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukraine’s military has reportedly succeeded in driving tanks through Russia’s defensive line in western Zaporizhzhia, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a major breakthrough after Vladimir Putin’s forces spent the winter establishing a tough obstacle course of anti-tank ditches, artillery nests and other obstructions.

The institute could not confirm that Ukrainian troops had followed suit at the breakthrough point near Verbove but the news is nevertheless a welcome indication that Kyiv’s counteroffensive is bearing fruit as it seeks to drive the invader from its territory.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is currently in North America seeking to shore up support from his US counterpart Joe Biden and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and has already flown out of Washington with the promise of a new $325m military aid package for his country that will include air defence systems and other weaponry to help it through what promises to be another trying winter of combat.

Joe Sommerlad reports:

What are Abrams tanks and why is the US sending them to Ukraine?

Pope blames weapons industry for Russia-Ukraine war and 'martyrdom' of Ukrainian people

05:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Pope Francis on Saturday labeled the weapons industry as being a key driver of the “martyrdom” of Ukraine’s people in Russia’s war, saying even the withholding of weapons now is going to continue their misery.

Francis appeared to refer to Poland’s recent announcement that it is no longer sending arms to Ukraine when he was asked about the war during brief remarks to reporters while returning home from Marseille, France.

Francis acknowledged he was frustrated that the Vatican’s diplomatic initiatives hadn’t borne much fruit. But he said behind the Russia-Ukraine conflict was also the weapons industry.

Nicole Winfield reports:

Pope blames weapons industry for Russia-Ukraine war and 'martyrdom' of Ukrainian people

Ex-Wagner commander arrested in Norway for attempting return to Russia

04:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Norwegian police have arrested a former commander of the Wagner mercenary group on suspicion that he tried to illegally cross the border back into Russia after seeking asylum in Norway earlier this year, the man’s lawyer said on Saturday.

Andrei Medvedev, who escaped Russia in January via its Arctic border with Norway, has described running as Russian guards fired shots at him. He has spoken about his time fighting in Ukraine as part of the Wagner group.

Police said in a statement late on Friday that a man in his 20s had been taken into custody for attempting to illegally cross the Russian border, but did not name him. An officer with the Finnmark local police declined to give the arrested man’s identity.

Crossing the border to Russia is only allowed at designated points. But Medvedev’s arrest was due to a misunderstanding, his Norwegian lawyer Brynjulf Risnes told Reuters.

“He was up there to see if he could find the place where he crossed (into Norway in January). He was stopped when he was in a taxi. He was never near the border ... It was never his intention to cross the border (into Russia),” Risnes said.

At the time of his arrival in Norway, Medvedev said he was seeking asylum because he feared for his life after witnessing the killing and mistreatment of Russian prisoners brought to the frontline in Ukraine.

Russian foreign minister lambastes the West but barely mentions Ukraine in UN speech

03:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia’s top diplomat lashed out at the U.S. and the West on Saturday as self-interested defenders of a fading international order, but he didn’t discuss his country’s war in Ukraine in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly.

“The U.S. and its subordinate Western collective are continuing to fuel conflicts which artificially divide humanity into hostile blocks and hamper the achievement of overall aims. They’re doing everything they can to prevent the formation of a genuine multipolar world order,” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

“They are trying to force the world to play according to their own self-centered rules,” he said.

Read more:

Russian foreign minister lambastes the West but barely mentions Ukraine in UN speech

Russia’s Lavrov rubbishes Ukraine peace plan and warns conflict will be resolved on battlefield

02:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has rubbished Ukraine’s 10-point peace plan and warned the conflict will be resolved on the battlefield if the West continues its involvement.

Addressing the UN General Assembly on Saturday, Mr Lavrov dismissed the West as an “empire of lies” and said the plan promoted by Kyiv was “completely not feasible”.

In a letter to Mr Lavrov last month, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres outlined four measures the UN could facilitate to improve Russia’s grain and fertiliser exports in a bid to convince Moscow to return to the Black Sea deal, which allowed Ukraine to export grain through the corridor and helped address a global food shortage.

Read more:

Russia rubbishes Kyiv peace plan and warns conflict will be resolved on battlefield

Cracks in Western wall of support for Ukraine emerge as Eastern Europe and US head toward elections

01:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Once rock-solid, the support that Ukraine has gotten from its biggest backers for its fight against Russia is showing cracks.

Political posturing in places like Poland and Slovakia, where a trade dispute with Ukraine has stirred tensions, and Republican reticence in the United States about Washington’s big spending to prop up Ukraine’s military have raised new uncertainties about the West’s commitment to its efforts to expel Russian invaders more than 18 months into the war.

And Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hopes to outlast allied backing for Kyiv, will be ready to capitalize if he sees Ukraine is running low on air defense or other weapons.

Read more:

Cracks in Western wall of support for Ukraine emerge as Eastern Europe and US head toward elections

Double blow for Putin as Black Sea navy attacked and Ukrainian forces ‘punch through Russian front line’

Sunday 24 September 2023 00:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia’s Black Sea fleet headquarters were in flames after a missile attack on Friday, bringing yet more woe to Vladimir Putin after Ukraine’s tanks reportedly broke through his final line of defence in western Zaporizhzhia.

Photographs show firefighters battling the blaze in the port city of Sevastopol while the Russian defence ministry confirmed one serviceman was missing in action as a result of the assault.

The attack took place less than 24 hours after Ukrainian armoured vehicles reportedly advanced over the front line – known as the Surovikin line – in western Zaporizhzhia for the first time, signalling a major breakthrough for Kyiv’s counteroffensive in the region.

Alex Ross has more:

Double blow for Putin as navy attacked and Ukraine forces ‘punch through front line’

Ukraine targets key Crimean city a day after striking the Russian navy headquarters

Saturday 23 September 2023 23:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukraine on Saturday morning launched another missile attack on Sevastopol in occupied Crimea, a Russian-installed official said, a day after an attack on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet left a serviceman missing and the main building smouldering.

Sevastopol was put on air raid alert for about an hour after debris from intercepted missiles fell near a pier, Gov. Mikhail Razvozhayev wrote on the messaging app Telegram. Ferry traffic in the area was also halted and later resumed.

Loud blasts were also heard near Vilne in northern Crimea, followed by rising clouds of smoke, according to a pro-Ukrainian Telegram news channel that reports on developments on the peninsula. Crimea, illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, has been a frequent target for Ukrainian forces since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of the neighbouring country almost 19 months ago.

Read more:

Ukraine targets key Crimean city a day after striking the Russian navy headquarters

Trudeau pledges Canada's support for Ukraine and punishment for Russia

Saturday 23 September 2023 22:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced several support measures for Ukraine, including military, economic and humanitarian assistance, while also pledging an additional show of diplomatic backing through steps intended to punish Russia over the war.

“We’re continuing to impose costs on Russia and ensuring that those responsible for this illegal, unjustifiable invasion do not benefit from it,” Trudeau said Friday during during a joint news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ottawa, the Canadian capital.

Zelenskyy also addressed Canada‘s Parliament on Friday. He flew into Ottawa late Thursday after meetings with U.S. President Joe Biden and lawmakers in Washington. He spoke at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday.

Brian P.d. Hannon reports:

Trudeau pledges Canada's support for Ukraine and punishment for Russia

Ukraine’s Zelensky stops over in Poland to award two volunteers

Saturday 23 September 2023 21:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky awarded two Polish volunteers state awards during a stopover on Saturday, but did not meet any officials as relations between the two countries are strained over grain imports.

Poland decided last week to extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports, shaking Kyiv’s relationship with a neighbour that has been one of its staunchest allies since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.

Poland’s prime minister told Zelensky on Friday not to “insult” Poles, maintaining harsh rhetoric towards Kyiv ahead of elections on October 15. The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has been criticised by the far right for what it says is the government’s subservient attitude to Ukraine.

Zelensky angered his neighbours when he told the United Nations General Assembly in New York that Kyiv was working to preserve land routes for grain exports, but that the “political theatre” around imports was only helping Moscow.

On Saturday, on his way back home, he handed awards to Bianka Zalewska, a journalist who helped transport wounded children to Polish hospitals, and Damian Duda, who gathered a medical team to help wounded soldiers near the front line.

Zelensky thanked all Poles who “from the first days opened their families, their homes, opened themselves up and helped”.

Latest pictures from the frontline

Saturday 23 September 2023 21:00 , Nick Ferris

Slapping West as ‘empire of lies’, Russia’s Lavrov dismisses U.N. bid to revive Black Sea grain deal

Saturday 23 September 2023 20:47 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday dismissed the West as an “empire of lies” and said the latest U.N. proposals to revive the Black Sea grain initiative would not fly because they do not deliver on promises made to Moscow.

Lavrov spoke after a week of intense global diplomacy at the annual gathering of world leaders at U.N. headquarters in New York where Ukraine and its Western allies sought to drum up support for Kyiv as it fights against Russia’s invasion.

In a letter to Lavrov last month, U.N. secretary-general Antonio Guterres outlined four measures the U.N. could facilitate to improve Russia’s grain and fertilizer exports in a bid to convince Moscow to return to the Black Sea deal, which allowed Ukraine to export grain through the corridor and helped address a global food shortage.

“We explained to the secretary general why his proposals won’t work. We don’t reject them. They’re simply not realistic. They cannot be implemented,” Lavrov said.

He said a 10-point peace plan promoted by Kyiv was “completely not feasible” and that the conflict would be resolved on the battlefield if Ukraine and the West stuck to it.

Lavrov added that Moscow left the Black Sea grain initiative because promises made to Russia - including on removing sanctions on a Russian bank and reconnecting it to the global SWIFT system - had not been met.

ICYMI: Senior Russian generals injured in Friday’s missile strike on Crimea

Saturday 23 September 2023 20:30 , Nick Ferris

Senior Russian generals were injured in Friday’s missile strike on Crimea, Ukraine’s intelligence chief has claimed.

Kyrylo Budanov told Voice of America on Saturday that at least nine people were killed and 16 injured as a result of Kyiv’s attack on the Black Sea Fleet on Friday.

He claimed that Alexander Romanchuk, a Russian general commanding forces along the key southeastern front line, was “in a very serious condition” following the attack. He added that chief of staff, Lieutenant General Oleg Tsekov is also unconscious.

Budanov’s claim could not be independently verified.

Iraqi PM will visit Russia in the next few weeks

Saturday 23 September 2023 20:00 , Nick Ferris

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is set to visit Moscow in the next few weeks, according to an Iraqi foreign ministry statement

The statement quoted Hussein speaking with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Baghdad previously hosted Lavrov in February, when he led a delegation for representatives of Russian companies.

When the UN General Assembly adopted a US-led resolution to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Iraq abstained, along with countries including China, Iran, India, Pakistan, Armenia and 16 African countries

ICYMI: Don’t insult us, Polish PM tells Zelensky

Saturday 23 September 2023 19:30 , Nick Ferris

Poland’s prime minister has told Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky not to “insult” Poles, amid the simmering row over grain imports.

Poland decided last week to extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports, shaking Kyiv’s relationship with a neighbour that has been seen as one of its staunchest allies.

Mr Zelensky angered his neighbours when he told the United Nations General Assembly in New York that Kyiv was working to preserve land routes for grain exports, but that the “political theatre” around grain imports was only helping Moscow.

“I... want to tell President Zelensky never to insult Poles again, as he did recently during his speech at the UN,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.

Canada adds 63 Russian individuals and entities to its sanctions list

Saturday 23 September 2023 19:00 , Nick Ferris

Canada has added 63 Russian individuals and entities to its sanctions list, including “those complicit in the kidnapping of children and the spreading of disinformation”, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

Trudeau made his announcement after Ukrainian President visited Canada for the first time since the outbreak of war on Friday.

Canada and Ukraine have also agreed to establish a working group with G7 partners to study the seizure and forfeiture of Russian assets, including from the Russian Central Bank, Trudeau said.

Trudeau added that Canada’s pledge to stand with Ukraine will include 650 million Canadian dollars (£393 million) in new military assistance over the next three years.

US, South Korea and Japan ‘concerned’ over Russia-N Korea ties

Saturday 23 September 2023 18:30 , Nick Ferris

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, along with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, has expressed “serious concern” over the discussion of military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, says South Korea’s Foreign Ministry.

After meeting on Friday, Blinken, South Korea’s Park Jin and Japan’s Yoko Kamikawa have agreed to respond firmly to any acts that threaten regional security, the ministry said in a statement.

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un visited Russia last week, where he discussed military cooperation with President Vladimir Putin.

US and South Korean officials have expressed concern that the summit was aimed at allowing Russia to purchase ammunition from the North.

Saturday 23 September 2023 18:00 , Nick Ferris

New sanctions against Russia would “cause more harm to Europe than Russia,” Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in an interview with Russian state media TASS on Friday.

Szijjártó claimed to be speaking from a “pragmatic point of view,” adding that “the new packages of sanctions are not necessary.”

He added that supplies of Ukrainian grain to Central European countries will destroy domestic agricultural sectors.

Under right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Hungary has maintained far cooler support for Ukraine since the outbreak of war in the country in 2021, regularly putting the country out of step with Western allies.

Russia showering frontline regions with missile strikes, says Ukraine

Saturday 23 September 2023 17:30 , Nick Ferris

Zaporizhzhia regional Governor Yuri Malashko said on Saturday that Russia over the previous day carried out 86 missile strikes on 27 settlements in the province, many of them lying only a few kilometers from fighting.

Malashko said that an 82-year- old civilian was killed by artillery fire.

In the neighboring Kherson region, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said at least one person died and three were injured over the past day because of Russian shelling.

Russia had fired 25 shells targeting the city of Kherson, Prokudin said.

Residential quarters were hit, including medical and education institutions, government-built stations that serve food and drinks, as well as critical infrastructure facilities, Prokudin said.

Canada to help train Ukrainians on F-16 fighter jets

Saturday 23 September 2023 17:00 , Nick Ferris

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that Canada will join other nations in training Ukrainians on F-16 fighter jets.

“We will also send F-16 trainers for pilots and for maintenance, so Ukrainians are able to maximize their use of donated fighter jets,” Trudeau said in a speech marking Ukrainian President Zelensky’s first visit to Canada on Friday.

Trudeau’s statement was part of an announcement that Canada will give an extra C$650m (£393.5m) in military aid to Ukraine over next three years, prime minister Justin Trudeau told his country’s parliament.

He also announced new funding to support Ukrainians’ mental health.

ICYMI: Why the US is sending Abrams tanks to Ukraine

Saturday 23 September 2023 16:30 , Nick Ferris

The US has pledged to send 31 M1 Abram battle tanks, worth an estimated $400m, to Ukraine.

They are “much better protected than anything the Soviets built, or anything the Russians currently have”:

What are Abrams tanks and why is the US sending them to Ukraine?

American models being donated to Kyiv have a reputation for being high maintenance and requiring time-consuming additional training to master.

Ukraine’s Zelensky meets the leader of Sudan

Saturday 23 September 2023 16:00 , Nick Ferris

Ukraine’s Zelensky met the leader of Sudan, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, on Saturday

Zelensky said that he held an impromptu meeting in Ireland’s Shannon airport, where they discussed Russia-funded armed groups.

“We discussed our common security challenges, namely the activities of illegal armed groups financed by Russia,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.

He thanked Sudan, which is currently in the middle of a deadly civil war, for its support for Ukraine.

ICYMI: US ‘to give Kyiv ATACMS long-range missiles’

Saturday 23 September 2023 15:30 , Nick Ferris

US President Joe Biden has informed Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky that Washington will provide Kyiv with ATACMS long-range missiles, NBC News reported on Friday.

Kyiv has repeatedly asked the Biden administration for Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to help attack and disrupt supply lines, air bases and rail networks in Russian occupied territory.

But the White House did not disclose any decision on ATACMS when Zelensky visited Washington on Thursday for talks with Biden, even as it announced a new $325 million military aid package for Kyiv.

ATACMS are designed for “deep attack of enemy second-echelon forces,” a US Army website says, and could be used to attack command and control centers, air defences and logistics sites well behind the front line.

Senior Russian generals injured in Friday’s missile strike on Crimea

Saturday 23 September 2023 15:09 , Nick Ferris

Senior Russian generals were injured in Friday’s missile strike on Crimea, Ukraine’s intelligence chief has claimed.

Kyrylo Budanov told Voice of America on Saturday that at least nine people were killed and 16 injured as a result of Kyiv’s attack on the Black Sea Fleet on Friday.

He claimed that Alexander Romanchuk, a Russian general commanding forces along the key southeastern front line, was “in a very serious condition” following the attack.

He added that chief of staff, Lieutenant General Oleg Tsekov is also unconscious.

Budanov’s claim could not be independently verified.

Ukraine’s military have also offered more details about Friday’s attack on Sevastopol.

It said the air force conducted 12 strikes on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters, targeting areas where personnel, military equipment and weapons were concentrated. It said two anti-aircraft missile systems and four Russian artillery units were hit.

Ukraine continues to strike Crimea a day after striking Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters

Saturday 23 September 2023 14:15 , Nick Ferris

Ukraine launched another missile attack on Sevastopol in occupied Crimea on Saturday, a Russian official said, a day after an attack on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet left a serviceman missing and the main building smoldering.

Sevastopol was put on air raid alert for about an hour after debris from intercepted missiles fell on the city, Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev wrote on the messaging app Telegram.

Ferry traffic in the area was also halted and later resumed.Loud blasts were also heard near Vilne in northern Crimea, followed by rising clouds of smoke, according to a pro-Ukrainian Telegram news channel that reports on developments on the peninsula.

Crimea, illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, has been a frequent target for Ukrainian forces since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of the neighboring country almost 19 months ago.

‘Senior’ Russian naval officers were killed in Russian naval headquarters attack, says Ukraine

Saturday 23 September 2023 13:30 , Nick Ferris

‘Senior’ Russian naval officers were killed and injured in a missile strike on Russia’s naval headquarters in Sevastopol, says Ukraine.

“The details of the attack will be revealed as soon as possible and the result is dozens of dead and wounded occupants, including senior fleet commanders,” the Ukrainian army said. It said the strike happened when “a meeting of the Russian navy’s leadership” was taking place.

The claims have yet to be verified by non-Ukrainian media.

Following the attack , the Russian defence ministry said its air defence systems responding to the attack shot down five missiles. Firefighters battled the blaze, and more emergency forces were brought in.

Ukraine breaks through Russian lines in south, says general

Saturday 23 September 2023 13:00 , Nick Ferris

Kyiv’s army has broken through Russian lines in southern Ukraine, the general leading the Southern counteroffensive said on Friday.

Ukraine launched its counteroffensive to claw back territory from Russian forces in June, but critics have said that progress so far has been slower than expected.

Kyiv has in recent weeks reported making strategic advances in the Zaporizhzhia region, with new reports of a breakthrough emerging on saturday.

“On the left flank we have a breakthrough and we continue to advance further,” General Tarnavskiy told CNN.

He nonetheless acknowledged that the advance had been “Not as fast as it was excepted, not like in the movies about the Second World War”. But it is important “not to lose this initiative”, he said.

Ukraine inflicting ‘hell’ on Russian lines near Bakhmut

Saturday 23 September 2023 12:30 , Nick Ferris

Ukrainian heavy artillery is inflicting ‘hell’ on Russian lines near Bakhmut, Ukrainian commanders have told Reuters.

Heavy weapons supplied by the West in the fierce battle raging on the outskirts of Bakhmut, which was captured by Russia in May, are inflicting significant damage on enemy lines.

Following the capture of the key village of Klishchiivka last week, the 155 millimetre howitzers provided by the US and its NATO allies are proving key in the Ukrainian counteroffensive, say commanders.

“They (the Russians) hate our hardware”, said Unit commander Oleksandr. “That’s what we gather from our intercepts. We hear that we keep giving them hell and they keep wondering how much ammunition we have left.”

Oleksandr, 30, described Klishchiivka - a village close to the devastated town of Bakhmut - as “one of the places they (the Russians) were clinging to.”

“We will see what’s next. We will develop our success,” he said.

Why ATACMS could make a big difference in Ukraine’s counter-offensive

Saturday 23 September 2023 12:00 , Nick Ferris

Nicknamed “attack’ems”, ATACMS stands for “Army Tactical Missile System”.

Sources in Washington have told numerous media outlets that President is set to begin providing the missiles to the Ukrainian army.

They have an 180 mile range, are guided, can be fired in any weather, and can be fired from Ukraine’s existing fleet of missile launchers.

Ukraine’s commanders have been requesting them for some time, as they are able to hit targets deep into Russian supply lines.

US generals have until now been reluctant to hand over the missles however, reports Sky, over concerns as to how Russia would react, as well as concerns over the size of the American stock of ATACMS.

Ex-Wagner commander arrested in Norway for attempting return to Russia

Saturday 23 September 2023 11:30 , Nick Ferris

Norwegian police have arrested a former commander of the Wagner mercenary group on suspicion that he tried to illegally cross the border back into Russia after seeking asylum in Norway earlier this year, his lawyer said on Saturday.

At the time of his arrival in Norway, Andrei Medvedev said he was seeking asylum after witnessing the killing and mistreatment of Russian prisoners brought to the frontline in Ukraine. Medvedev described running as Russian guards fired shots at him.

Now, police said in a statement late on Friday that a man in his 20s had been taken into custody for attempting to illegally cross the Russian border, but did not name him. An officer with the Finnmark local police declined to give the arrested man’s identity.

But Medvedev’s arrest was due to a misunderstanding, his Norwegian lawyer Brynjulf Risnes told Reuters.

“He was up there to see if he could find the place where he crossed (into Norway in January). He was stopped when he was in a taxi. He was never near the border ... It was never his intention to cross the border (into Russia),” Risnes said.

One-month anniversary of Wagner boss Prigozhin’s death marked with Kremlin silence

Saturday 23 September 2023 11:02 , Nick Ferris

It remains a mystery why Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin’s private jet plummeted into a field northwest of Moscow. But the Russian military leaders he tried to oust remain in power, and the Wagner mercenary army is under new management.A month after Prigozhin was killed in a suspicious plane crash, the Kremlin is keeping the demise of the outspoken Wagner chief as low-key as possible, reports AP.

Putin was absent from Prigozhin’s funeral and troops prevented the media from entering Porokhovskoye Cemetery in St. Petersburg during his burial on August 29 .Prigozhin’s funeral was “the culmination of a covert operation aimed at his elimination,” Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, told AP. It was an event “shrouded in secrecy and involved deceptive tactics,” she said.Makeshift memorials that sprouted on the streets of several cities honoring the 62-year-old Prigozhin have been quietly removed by authorities. Recruitment billboards for the Wagner Group have also vanished.

A surveillance camera is now mounted on a nearby tree and a 24-hour guard monitors Prigozhin’s well-tended grave.

Victory for Zelensky as US ‘agrees’ to send long-range missiles to Ukraine

Saturday 23 September 2023 08:00 , Nick Ferris

US President Joe Biden is planning to provide Ukraine with advanced long-range missiles in order to assist with the ongoing counter-offensive against Russia’s invasion, reports US media.

Biden reportedly told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he would provide Kyiv with ATACMS long-range missile, which have a range of 190 miles, and would enable Kyiv to hit Russian targets deep behind the front line.

The news comes as at least one Ukrainian missile hit the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea fleet in annexed Crimea on Friday.

The attack was reportedly carried out using Storm Shadow missiles, which have a range of 150 miles, and are supplied by Britain and France.

Following the attack on Sevastopol, the Russian defence ministry said its air defence systems responding to the attack shot down five missiles. Firefighters battled the blaze, and more emergency forces were brought in.

Why has Poland stopped supplying weapons to Ukraine?

Saturday 23 September 2023 07:00 , Tara Cobham

Poland has announced it will no longer be sending weapons to Ukraine amid growing tension between Warsaw and Kyiv after a ban on Ukrainian grain imports was extended.

Prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki said he would instead be investing the money in arming Poland, which has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies since Russia invaded last year, with the most “modern weapons”.

The announcement coincides with tensions reaching boiling point between the two neighbours after Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said some countries were “feigning solidarity by indirectly supporting Russia” with a ban on grain imports.

Alexander Butler reports:

Why has Poland stopped supplying weapons to Ukraine?

Zelensky gets standing ovation as he calls on Canada to ‘stay with’ Ukraine

Saturday 23 September 2023 06:48 , Stuti Mishra

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky called on Canada to “stay with” his country in its war against Russia, in his first visit to the country since the start of the invasion.

The Ukrainian president arrived in Canada’s capital Ottawa late on Thursday night and addressed the parliament on Friday where he sought to bolster support from Western allies for Ukraine’s war.

“Moscow must lose once and for all. And it will lose,” Mr Zelensky said.

Read more:

Zelensky gets standing ovation as he calls on Canada to ‘stay with’ Ukraine

Key war developments on Friday beyond Crimea

Saturday 23 September 2023 06:00 , Tara Cobham

In other war developments on Friday beyond those in Crimea, ongoing shelling in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region killed one man and injured another, according to regional Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin.

In the northeast, regional Gov. Oleh Synyehubov said over 14 settlements came under attack in Kharkiv. There were no casualties, the governor said.

Russian forces also struck Kremenchuk in the central Poltava region, killing one person and injuring 31 others including three children, regional Governor Dmytro Lunin said.

In pictures: Russia’s Black Sea navy HQ hit in missile strike

Saturday 23 September 2023 05:00 , Tara Cobham

Zelenskyy accuses Russia of ‘genocide’ at Canadian Parliament

Saturday 23 September 2023 04:00 , Tara Cobham

The Ukrainian President accused Russia of “genocide” in his address to the Canadian Parliament on Friday.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy captioned a post on X: “In my today’s address to the Parliament of Canada I emphasized that what Russian occupiers are doing to Ukraine is genocide. And when we want to win, when we call on the world to support us, it’s not just about an ordinary conflict. It’s about saving lives of millions of people.”

What are Abrams tanks and why is US sending them to Ukraine?

Saturday 23 September 2023 03:00 , Tara Cobham

Ukraine’s military has reportedly succeeded in driving tanks through Russia’s defensive line in western Zaporizhzhia, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a major breakthrough after Vladimir Putin’s forces spent the winter establishing a tough obstacle course of anti-tank ditches, artillery nests and other obstructions.

The institute could not confirm that Ukrainian troops had followed suit at the breakthrough point near Verbove but the news is nevertheless a welcome indication that Kyiv’s counteroffensive is bearing fruit as it seeks to drive the invader from its territory.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is currently in North America seeking to shore up support from his US counterpart Joe Biden and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and has already flown out of Washington with the promise of a new $325m military aid package for his country that will include air defence systems and other weaponry to help it through what promises to be another trying winter of combat.

Joe Sommerlad reports:

What are Abrams tanks and why is the US sending them to Ukraine?

Friday’s attack among several recently launched by Ukraine on Crimea

Saturday 23 September 2023 02:00 , Tara Cobham

The attack on Friday is one of several recently launched by Ukraine in the Crimea area.

The Institute for the Study of War said satellite imagery this week showed that Ukrainian strikes had significantly damaged a communications command center in Verkhnosadove, just outside Sevastopol.

Russian-installed authorities in Sevastopol accused Ukraine on 13 September of carrying out the biggest attack in Crimea in weeks, one on a strategic shipyard that damaged two ships undergoing repairs and caused a fire at the facility.

Two days earlier, Ukraine claimed it had recaptured strategic gas and oil drilling platforms in the Black Sea that Russia seized in 2015. Russia had used the platforms for electronic warfare equipment and to launch helicopters, and Ukraine said getting control of them would help it regain Crimea.

In pictures: The fight in Donetsk

Saturday 23 September 2023 01:00 , Jane Dalton

Moscow court refuses to hear appeal by detained US journalist

Saturday 23 September 2023 00:01 , Jane Dalton

ICYMI earlier this week: A Moscow court has rejected an appeal by Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich challenging an extension of his detention on spying charges:

Moscow court refuses to hear appeal by detained US journalist Evan Gershkovich

Friday 22 September 2023 23:04 , Jane Dalton

Members of Russia’s Youth Army military-patriotic movement held a ceremony to unveil a memorial in Leningrad to Russian soldiers killed in the war.

Grain dispute won’t harm our relations, says Polish president

Friday 22 September 2023 22:00 , Jane Dalton

A dispute between Poland and Ukraine over grain imports will not significantly affect the countries’ good bilateral relations, the Polish president said on Friday, as he moved to ease tensions over the issue.

Poland decided last week to extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports, shaking Kyiv’s relationship with a neighbour that has been seen as one of its staunchest allies since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.

“I have no doubt that the dispute over the supply of grain from Ukraine to the Polish market is an absolute fragment of the entire Polish-Ukrainian relations,” President Andrzej Duda told a business conference.

“I don’t believe that it can have a significant impact on them, so we need to solve this matter between us.”

Double blow for Putin

Friday 22 September 2023 21:05 , Jane Dalton

In full: Russia’s Black Sea fleet headquarters were in flames after a fiery missile attack, bringing yet more woe to Vladimir Putin after Ukraine’s tanks reportedly broke through his final line of defence in western Zaporizhzhia:

Double blow for Putin as navy attacked and Ukraine forces ‘punch through front line’

Don’t insult us, Polish PM tells Zelensky

Friday 22 September 2023 19:56 , Jane Dalton

Poland’s prime minister has told Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky not to “insult” Poles, amid the simmering row over grain imports.

Poland decided last week to extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports, shaking Kyiv’s relationship with a neighbour that has been seen as one of its staunchest allies.

Mr Zelensky angered his neighbours when he told the United Nations General Assembly in New York that Kyiv was working to preserve land routes for grain exports, but that the “political theatre” around grain imports was only helping Moscow.

“I... want to tell President Zelensky never to insult Poles again, as he did recently during his speech at the UN,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.

US 'promises Ukraine long-coveted long-range missiles’

Friday 22 September 2023 19:15 , Jane Dalton

President Joe Biden has reportedly promised Volodymyr Zelensky that the US will provide his country with a long-range missile system that his armed forces could use to attack targets in Russian-occupied territory or in Russia itself:

Biden promised Ukraine long-coveted ATACMS long-range missiles, report says

Russian aggression must end with our victory, says Zelensky

Friday 22 September 2023 19:00 , Jane Dalton

The Ukrainian leader won enthusiastic applause in Canada’s parliament when he said Russian destruction of communities and cities such as Mariupol must not go unpunished.

“This Russian aggression must end with our victory,” he said, delivering his speech in English.

Recalling how Canada always defended justice, he thanked the parliamentarians for “being on the right side”, for their political and economic support and being an example of leadership.

Equipment including air-defence systems and artillery shells had helped save thousands of lives, he said.

Through manipulation of energy sources, Russia was trying to break his country, Mr Zelensky went on.

Canada promises Kyiv nearly £400m in military aid

Friday 22 September 2023 18:47 , Jane Dalton

Canada will give an extra C$650m (£393.5m) in military aid to Ukraine over next three years, prime minister Justin Trudeau told his country’s parliament, watched by Volodymyr Zelensky.

He also announced new funding to support Ukrainians’ mental health.

Standing ovation for Zelensky

Friday 22 September 2023 18:29 , Jane Dalton

Canadian politicians gave Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena a standing ovation as they arrived in the parliament chamber.